Blockbuster games by mail: Not a good deal

Many gamers were enthused to hear about Blockbuster adding Games by Mail to their DVD’s by Mail subscription plans. The really exciting part was that they added games for no additional cost, which would allow you to have a game out for 30 days for just $8.99.

Sounds good, but is the Blockbuster Games by Mail program as good as it sounds? We took a closer look to find out.

One game that I’ve been particularly interested in trying out is ModNation Racers for the PS3. I jumped on the Blockbuster website to check out the availability of the game, and I was shocked to find that it wasn’t available. Availability is listed as 09/07/2010. This game was released on 05/25/2010 and it’s still not available through Blockbuster by Mail? This seems like an epic fail for a games rental service, but perhaps it was just a fluke with this specific title, so I checked out a few other games to find out.

Next up I looked at the availability of the game Red Dead Redemption for Xbox 360. This title was released on 05/18/2010, so it’s gotta be available for rental on Blockbuster mail service by now, right? Nope. Blockbuster lists this title as available on 08/31/2010, three and a half months after its initial release.

I kept going, looking up a title that was released this month, Madden NFL 11. This latest iteration of the Madden franchise was released to the public on August 10th, just 2 weeks ago. Blockbuster by Mail lists the availability of this title at 11/23/2010. Another +3 month delay!

So don’t go canceling your GameFly subscriptions just yet, unless you’re willing to wait over 3 months for a new release to become available on Blockbuster by mail.

I find this flaw to be quite disappointing, as this games by mail program could’ve actually made Blockbuster an attractive service again. Unfortunately, this gaming program just doesn’t cut it. It certainly won’t be attracting any hardcore gamers with its glaring lack of new release titles. It’s another too little, too late effort. Sorry Blockbuster, but you’re still headed straight for bankruptcy.

I actually just switched from Gamefly and really like the service. Its about half the price of Gamefly. Plus for a new game I really want Im willing to go out and buy it. It took a long time anyways for Gamefly to get you new releases. The main thing about BBs service that I like is that its turnaround time is about 2 days or same as Netflix but games are included and bluray also for no extra charge, while Netflix charges extra for bluray.

I canceled my Blockbuster subscription because every movie i wanted to rent had a "short wait" or very long wait". Only the older movies were available. I guess that's a sign that they will be folding their tent..

I heard today that Blockbuster will be filing for bankruptcy in the next couple of weeks. I'm not sad to see it go, but I do feel for the people about to join the unemployment line. The global economy is still pretty fragile and this is just more bad news. Having just spent a humbling 15 months in that line, I certainly sympathize. Good luck.